Anecdotal evidence and some country case studies have pointed to a strong coincidence between areas of remaining high forest cover and high poverty rate. A recent CIFOR report examines this coincidence in seven countries (Brazil” Honduras” Indonesia” Malawi” Mozambique” Uganda and Vietnam)” and presents a number of policy options for addressing poverty in forested regions.

Key findings from the report include the following:

• The rate and severity of human poverty tend to be high in highly forested areas.

• In many cases it is necessary to intervene to reduce poverty in these places rather than assume that economic growth will help.

• Among the most promising approaches for poverty alleviation in these places are:

− Transfer of forest ownership to local people;

− Creation of a ‘level playing field’ in forest product markets;

− Assistance in the establishment of commercial scale community forestry and company–community partnerships;

− Establishment of pro-poor models of payments for environmental services.

The report also contains maps illustrating the relationship between forest cover and poverty density and poverty rate in the case studies countries.

You can download the complete report here” or read the summary infobrief.